Monday, 31 December 2007

Assalamu alaykum,we are learning about Islamic History. We started studying the Prophets lives and in the meantime we study the period where each Prophet/Messenger was living.We have studied so far about Prophet Adam and the creation of the manking.I would like to incorporate more History in our daily classes.Insh'Allah.Also I am looking forward to make a project with the kids about the Prophets. I am thinking about creating an object that can remind us of each Prophet E.g. Ark for Nuh, Palace for Suleyman, Kabah for Ibrahim and Ismail etc Just make some model of paper mache or clay, or cardboard. Insh'Allah.Will keep posted and add pictures when all done.Insh'Allah.I am off to sleep as we had a long day today. Kids restarted madrassa after 2 week holidays (Hajj period)

Saturday, 29 December 2007

well, this is one thing that most homeschoolers do not like to tell you about. Hamdullilah it's nothing to be afraid of, but to acknowledge.

Yes I am talking about the ME TIME! When you are homeschooling 24/7 there is no much time to take care of yourself. I am hearing this a lot from other sisters who, like myself, home school full time.

Each and every one of us will need sometime alone to get refreshed and relaxed, even if it's only for 1 hour.

As homeschoolers we need that ME TIME more than anybody else.

I have my ME time in the evening after kids have gone to bed and the house is quite. When everything around me it 's resting, the house is clean, the kids sleeping peacefully, the house is calm....Hamdulillah! I can enjoy reading Qur'an, books, or just read an article while online. Chat online with a sister, talk to my family at the phone, have an hot bath, have a cup of herbal tea and just refreshed my head and relax my body. It's important for me and my well being.

I know of sisters having the ME Time in the early morning, just before Fajr. Some other sisters told me they have the ME time once a week when the husband is at home and they can finally go out to visit friends and family without kids! Hamdulillah!

And you when are you having your ME time?Have you made a schedule that include some time with yourself only? Think about it for a minute and see if during the 24 hours you have some time when you can really be with your own.

Assalamualaykum,the choice to home school was not at all a CHOICE! I felt like I had it to because there was no any other choice out there for my kids education. We tried public school for one year with A. when he was only 3 years old and it didn't work.We tried Muslim school for one year again with A. when he was 5 years old and it was too expensive and we were not really getting all that we required for A. education. So then what???? Then Home Schooling came along.Yes, we all do home educate our kids daily, even those children who attend school are still getting education at home in same ways or another; it is not like homeschooling 24/7 but still an education. When I am asked for how long I have been home educated my kids, I do always answer since birth because I have been teaching them since they were born.But home schooling is another matter!We 'officially', as I like to call it, started to HOMESCHOOL when A. was 6 years old and S. was 3 years old. That makes us 1 1/2 years old into homeschooling. Still long to go insh'Allah.

The first few months were hard and felt like to give up any minute but as days passed and life carried on, we felt stronger in our decision and happier. We heard about other families' stories about education in UK and felt we were blessed with what we chose.We are now deep into the heart of homeschooling and love it! Kids are learning so much and are much happier than ever before. They are enjoying their freedom in learning, mash'Allah.So homeschooling became my choice when I realized that it was the best for my kids at this time and age. Hamdulillah for what Allah has bestow upon us.May Allah always keep it in this way.Amin

Friday, 28 December 2007

Assalamu alaykum, I had my hijjam done today. Hamdulillah. It's my second one.The first time I have done only the Sunnah spot which is between your shoulder blades, just under the neck where you can touch a big round bone.I have allowed my two boys to have a look to the procedure and hamdulillah to my surprise they were very interested and not disturbed by it. So I have decided to search the internet for some more information about hijjama. Insh'Allah I will prepare a lesson for them about the benefits of cupping.

Assalamualaykum,I like my kids to learn about everything in life, everything within the boundaries of Islam. That includes domestic daily chores. A. is always so helpful and he very much loves to help around the house. He is learning how to cook simple dishes from boiled eggs to pasta. Just easy recipes that we can do together, of course. We are using the book from the CBBC series 'Big Cook, Little Cook' It's an easy recipes book with lots of lovely colourful pictures.A. has also started doing the washing up. Her asked me once if he could and I told him not because I didn't want him to do too much too soon. He kept on asking me few times and so I allowed to wash only the breakfast dishes for now.S. is helpful too in his own little way. I cannot ask too much from him as he is still too young.But he is always ready to help. he can sort his toys out, feed the fish and clean the terrapin. He can also dust the floor with easy to use floor wipes! Mash'Allah! I am of the opinion that kids should be taught how to clean not matter if boys or girls. They have to learn how to clean and help aroundthe house. It is part of our deen too. "Cleanliness is half of the faith"Wa alaykum assalam

Wednesday, 26 December 2007

Assalamualaykum,today we have started a new subject with A. We are learning about the universe, the moon, the stars and where we are. My kids were given two books for 'eid gifts.One is for astronomy/geography and the other is about ahadith for children. May Allah reward the sister who bought these two books for us.Amin.S. is getting on really well with the Arabic Alphabet (written). He knows the Arabic Alphabet but he is currently learning how to write each letter. S. loves English and Maths and asks often to write down letters and numbers.We concentrated in writing three letters M, N and Y as S. has got problems writing them.A. is becoming so confident with Multiplication, he is enjoying them a lot. So far he learnt x2,x3,x4,x5,x6, and we are now doing x7. Hamdulillah. As I was already aware when A. was only a tiny pee, he loves Maths and Science.S. is just very happy in doing both, so far. Mash'Allahtabarak'Allah.,As for myself, I wish i could have so much more time to teach them. I love to sit with them and teach them anything they like to learn. Insh'Allah.May Allah increase them in knowledge and guide them always to the straight Path.AminWell, I am off I have an afternoon of art&craft to attend.Waalaykumassalam

Tuesday, 25 December 2007

Assalamualaykum,hamdulillah homeschooling is going just great! Kids are responding good to my teachings and I can see the fruits of it, mash'Allah.We are making some Units with A. He loves learning in themes. We are currently learning about animals, wild animals, insects, farm animals, any animals.Today we read about spiders, very interesting. A. asked the tarantula. He also made a drawing of the tarantula specifying the size in cm and inches.S. was writing the Arabic Alphabet all the time. He also started with very simple addition:one more.Insh'Allah I would love to introduce some History and more Geography in our lessons.Also Science is a bit neglected at present.We cannot do it all but we will try insh'Allah. I am so pleased with their outcomes and learning abilities.Mash'Allahtabarak'Allah. I pray to Allah to keep it this way.AminI am off for a cup of tea....Waalaykumassalam

Monday, 24 December 2007

Assalamualaykum,'eid is gone. Kids enjoyed their free time. We did not home schooled for two whole days!Fridays we have the teacher comingaround. She taught A. English grammar 'verbs'. S. is improving his handwriting.We carried on studying grammar with A. and learnt about Sharks. A. asked questions about the world we live in and shows interest for Geography. He also show great interest for stories containing spaceships, dragons, dinosaurs, fast cars and all that can related with boys world.I am preparing History lessons for A. Insh'Allah.Well, for now that's it.We need to carry on...

Tuesday, 18 December 2007

Assalamualaykum, in the last few weeks we have been talking about 'EidulAdha and the month of Hajj. I have been using books from Goodword and 'Zahiir and Jamel the Camel-Hajj' by sister Amatullah Al Marwani (may Allah reward her, amin).So tomorrow is 'eid. This year we haven't decorated the house. We prepared all the decorations, made by the boys but in the end we didn't hang them out. We decided to keep them in our art&craft folder.We love to put away and then look back at what we did.Today we have cleaned the house, the boys helped me around. A. is always very helpful. S. is very helpful too but at times he gets into 'messy mode'.So we cleaned their bedroom. We changed the furniture around so to make more space in their room and learnt that the wall shouldn't be scribbled. ARRGGHH!!We haven't done much homeschooling today. Just revised dua'as, surahs, and generally good manners in Islam.Well, I am off to bed now. I am so tired and looking forward to tomorrow.Insh'Allah.Waalaykumassalam

Monday, 17 December 2007

Assalamualaykum,I felt like crafty this morning! So kids and I set up for art&craft day!!!!WOOHOOOYes, I know you maybe thinking how easily I get excited but hey it's not an everyday thing to do art&craft around here.hamdulillah, kids were over the moon when i told them.So we set up all the stuff needed.We decorated paper plates for 'eidulAdha. Kids used finger paint to decorate their plates, glitter, stickers, pom-poms, and much more. i will post pictures of the finished products later. We then moved on to make some very fragrant pomander. We used one orange and one lemon. Kids couldn't believe themselves when I told them we could pierce the fruits and stick some fragrant cloves in them. We then rolled the orange and lemon in cinnamon powder and left them to dry on the radiator.Of course I will post the pictures!!Afternoon.Carried on working with A. on multiplication. This time we learnt 5s. He already knows 2s, 3s, 4s. Hamdulillah. S. learnt all about Alphabet sounds and the numbers.

Sunday, 16 December 2007

Assalamualaykum,we are using the UK National Curriculum again as a framework for our 'unschooling'.I like to use Letts books amongst others but we also work well with Oxford Tree Learning, CGP, and many others. Hamdulillah A. is learning fast and love Maths above any other subjects.He is currently learning Multiplication and Division. Mash'AllahTabarak'Allah.S. is learning ABC's writing and recognition of sounds (phonics). He is also learning to write numbers from 1 to 50. Mash'Allah.I would love to start few 'serious' lessons in Geography and History but the time seems just to be so little.Also to teach Geography and History I need the right resources. At present I don't have idea what resources I should be buying.Well, that would be my next mission...insh'Allah.For now...waalaykumassalam

hamdulillah we are back to our old routine. I thought it would have taken me longer but hamdulillah I recovered fairly quickly.

I've just had baby #3 and as you can imagine it has been a very busy time around here.

So we are back to homeschooling or should I say unschooling and I am so grateful to Allah because this means more 'structure' during the day and a better routine for everyone as long as it lasts. Insh'Allah long!

About Me

About A

A is a 9 years old boy.He loves reading and he is a real bookworm!! Mash'Allah! He can munch through 3-4 books a day, mash'Allah! His favourite books are from Dr Seuss, Stories of the Prophets and Roal Dahl.He loves riding his bike fast, swimmming, art&craft, LEGOs and wrestling.He enjoys watching documentaries about wild animals specially lions and wild cats in general.

About S

S is now 6 years old! He still like his Teddy and collecting toy cars! He owns more than 20 small toy cars, all models and makes! He likes swimming and riding his bike fast!He enjoys learning literacy and numeracy and art and craft!He hates tidying up his room and meal times. :(

Baby S.

Baby S. is 2 years old. Growing fast mash'Allah tabarak'Allah!He is now walking. Discovering the world around him. He is very well-loved and looked after by his two older brothers. Hamdulillah.He likes repeating the ABCs and reading with his brothers, mash'Allah. In his 'spare-time' he enjoys reaping apart his two brothers' workbooks and drawing on textbooks!!